Badaboom! Another chapter. We're drawing closer and closer to the end of the first year. There will be some big chapters coming up! Prepare yourselves!

Review Response:
Okay, you want a wild theory? I've got two of them. Theory One: Father Ezekiel's organization is the current incarnation of the Bleak and is trying to get the Regice for Dakrai's plans: Theory Two: Jared is Ezekiel's grandson.

Hmm… the first one could be true. But the second one… Paulson described Ezekiel's grandson as being cold. Jared may not be the most likable guy, but I wouldn't say he's cold.

I also like the realistic passage of time. It took six months for Antonia to reach maturity

The build up seemed to pay off. But yeah, I never liked the idea of a trainer becoming champ in one year or less. There should be a bit of buildup and years of training. In this universe, pokemon tend to level off in strength after a few years of training, but trainers themselves have to keep working to improve their craft if they want a chance at getting places.

Anyway, thanks to Magikarp Master for the editing.

Cody: Bastion (Wartortle), Mars (Diglett), Colossal (Pupitar), Antonia (Skarmory), Elesa (Zebstrika), Cortez (Litwick)

Heather: Somnos (Poliwhirl), Feathers (Pidgeotto), Nadine (Nidorina), Bella (Gloom), Smaug (Trapinch)

Jared: Charmeleon, Servine, Croconaw, Jolteon, Fearow, Onix

Chapter 33: Someone's Savior

In the midst of the light breeze that broke through the warm air, combined with the songs of the spring birds, Heather could not have been gladder about the end of Skitrex's last winter. Skitrex had always been known for having unbearable winters, but since she had to be traveling and sleeping outside during most of it, she had it in her mind that the past winter was the worst one ever.

Today however, she was grateful that they were taking it easy. The little grove they were in was an old abandoned picnic area for the nearby town, and the trees gave a nice amount of shade. Jared was at a table, grooming his Jolteon, while Cody was off doing… his thing. However, she was taking full advantage of the beautiful day, lying back in the grass, using the palms of her hands as a pillow. Somnos was sleeping nearby (as usual), Sasha was busy chasing the Butterfree that flew by, and Smaug was sunning himself on her stomach. She reached forward with one hand to pet the Trapinch's bulbous head before returning to her own sunning. So warm and sunny out… damn I picked a good day to wear shorts. So comfy.

"Heather, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Jared. Of course he had to interrupt her almost nap. She knew that she should have been happier to answer her boyfriend's call, but judging from his tone, he was probably going to complain about something. Scooping Smaug into her arms, she stood up and walked over to where her boyfriend was sitting.

"What's up?" She asked as she sat down next to him. She reached over and petted the Jolteon's fur, receiving a ticklish static shock as her fingers made contact. The electric pokemon licked her hand, adding to the bits of electricity that ran through her body.

"Nothing… that's what's bothering me," Jared replied suspiciously, looking over at Cody. The other teenage boy was sitting with Bastion on the top of the hill. Nearby, Elesa and Colossal were napping under the shade and Antonia was elsewhere at the moment, probably off hunting.

"What is with him?" Jared asked, though the question seemed to be directed at the world in general and not just Heather.

"Seriously?" Heather groaned, getting really tired of all of this animosity between the two boys. "He hasn't done anything of note in the past few days. All he's been doing is training, mapping our course, and following Diglett colonies. What could he have possibly done to upset you?"

"Absolutely nothing, which is why I'm freaking out here," Jared shot back, somewhat frustrated as seen in his widening eyes. "He's been way too quiet lately, and that's not in his character at all. Plus, He's been acting weird in general. You notice how he has his alarm go off every hour on the hour during the past few nights we've slept? It's like he's trying to avoid sleeping or something. And honestly, it's weirding me out, because the way he's acting is way out of left field." He looked back over at Cody to see if he was still there. Of course, given that the other teen hadn't moved in an hour, the look was unnecessary. "Go talk to him," he tacked on to the end of his thought.

Couldn't have said please first? Heather thought to herself, frowning. "Why? He seems fine… ish. I mean, you're the only one who's bothered here." That was only half true however. It was apparent that Cody was a little out of sorts as of late, and she did have to remind him a few times to eat. However, she tried not to mother him too much. Cody already had a mother (who he was often annoyed with) and she did not want to intrude on that territory. "Jared, if you're so bothered, why don't you talk to him?"

"Like he's going to talk to me about his problems. If there was a bridge for that, he burned it a long time ago," Jared scoffed, brushing his pokemon's fur slightly rougher now, though the yellow canine didn't seem to notice. "He'll talk to you though. Go see if he's alright. As long as he's not planning to start sacrificing a Gogoat to Satan, I'll feel a little more comfortable, you know?"

"Yeah, sure Jared," she agreed, rolling her eyes. She was growing sick of her role in the group. Jared was the de facto leader, Cody was in charge of mapping where they would go, and she was the den mother slash mediator between the two boys. There has to be some sexism going on here. Slightly exasperated, she stood up and made her way over to Cody.

When she reached the place where Cody was sitting, she saw that he was counting (or so she figured because he was pointing into the valley with his index finger and with each bounce of his digit, he seemed to be mouthing a word; probably a number.) He had his field book on his lap and an open jar of peanut butter in his other hand with a spoon inside. His blond hair was slightly disheveled, but that wasn't what bothered her the most. She noticed the bags under his eyes that seemed darker than the day before. It looked as if he hadn't slept in days, but she knew that wasn't true since she had seen him sleeping in increments like Jared had noted. His Wartortle on the other hand was enjoying a nap, his body having retreated into his shell. She then turned her attention to what Cody was counting in the valley. Below them, a colony of Diglett and Dugtrio was swarming about, all squeaking wildly and fussing over the roots of the trees they were gnawing on. Mars was down there somewhere, but even if there weren't hundreds of Diglett below, she wouldn't be able to pick him out. They all really did look the same, except for the few moles who had a more blackish colored fur than the typical shade of brown.

"Are you doing alright?" she asked after a minute of waiting for him to say something first. He didn't answer her for another half a minute, and when he did, his response seemed off.

"Two-hundred and sixty-eight."

"Excuse me?" Heather asked, not sure of what to make of what she heard.

"There are 268 Diglett down there, give or take, and not including Mars," he responded, almost mechanically. "Also, there are about thirty some Dugtrio. I can't get an exact number, given how they're constantly moving and popping in and out of the ground, but that's how many there are. Recording it for the book when I send it in. I really hope they like this stuff, because it's a pain in the ass trying to count Diglett."

"Right…" Heather breathed. This is so not normal. "So… eating peanut butter straight from the jar, huh?"

"Sugar and protein," Cody replied as if Heather had asked why. "Don't judge."

"I'm not, but Cody… you look exhausted. When was the last time you've had a good night's sleep?" she asked with genuine concern.

"No idea," he answered, not bothering to think about it while he took a spoonful of peanut butter, following it with a swish of water from his canteen. "I just can't sleep well, you know? Naps here and there, but no sleep. No real sleep at least."

Heather didn't need to be a genius to figure out what was happening. "You dreamt of him again, didn't you? The Darkrai thing?"

"Yes, and it was very bad," he answered, though now, his voice sounded less mechanical and more humanlike. "Heather, I know you don't believe me, but this thing… I can't… you have no-"

"You've been keeping the dream journal like the doctor told you to, right?"

"Of course," he replied, pulling a notebook out of his pack and giving it to her. "You can read it if you want. Nothing personal or anything…" His eyes suddenly expanded in distress. "Except for the entries that involve women. Those-"

"Message received," Heather interrupted as she turned through the pages. Most of them were full of Cody's handwriting, most of which was completely illegible. However, she did like some of the pictures he drew in the corners that were brief depictions of his dreams. Her friend was hardly a great artist (at least when she compared his pictures to hers), but all of the pokemon sketches that he had been doing for the field book were definitely improving his basic ability with a pencil. She continued to thumb through the pages until she got to one of the last entries. She was about to read it when Cody snatched the notebook from her.

"Yeah, don't read that one either," he asked somewhat meekly now, stuffing the book back in with his supplies. "You wouldn't like that one."

"Cody, has the journal been helping you at all?" Heather asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Not… not really," he answered, resting his forehead in his hand. "I like it though. I never have good dreams anymore for the most part, but it's fun to write the neutral stuff down. Still, Darkrai-"

"Cody, this is a problem," Heather interrupted again, her face growing grave. "These dreams can't be healthy if they're killing your sleep patterns so much. If you can't sleep-"

"Oh, I can," he stated, "just not during the night for that long. That's when he comes. The day is safe though. But right now, I just have to watch Mars and-"

"Cody, Mars is fine. I'm worried about you!" Heather said, the firmness of her voice matching her grip. "When you saw that psychologist, did he say anything about medication?"

"Yes he did," Cody said dryly.

"And have you… you know… considered that?"

This caused Cody to straighten up his posture and give Heather a very dark look. "Heather," he began, his voice growing deadly serious and less shaky, "let me tell you something about medication for mental issues: it sucks. Not saying that it doesn't work, because I'm on pills right now that are doing me a great service of keeping me balanced… for the most part. But when you get a new medication in your system, there's a damn good chance that it won't do shit for you or it will make things worse. Even if you find a good medication, it can mess with your head for weeks until your body adjusts. When we're on the road like this, I don't have time to deal with new pills that may be a dead end. Even if I did, my mother would explode if she saw those pills pop up on our insurance billing. She wanted to pull me from this when I was visiting a psychologist, for Christ sake. If she saw me on a new med… let's not think about that. Either way, pills won't help because Darkrai isn't a disorder. He's a mystic thing or something. He's gonna keep coming. And you shouldn't be worried because his presence hasn't put us in danger. Not yet at least. In fact, that one time when Casper attacked us, Darkrai warned me in my sleep that he was coming. So really, he's been beneficial to you. Just…" He took a second to catch his breath. "Just believe me on this one, okay?"

Heather was speechless as she and Cody just stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She had not expected Cody's knowledge on medication to be that in-depth (or at least more so than her own). But while for obvious reasons, she still didn't believe him on the Darkrai issue, she decided to change the topic. "So how is Mars doing?"

"I don't know," Cody replied, his voice having gone back to his normal. "Probably not well though. Diglett can be territorial of where they nest, but amongst themselves, they're rather peaceful. Mars is way too abnormally hyper aggressive for his own species, so the chances of him finding two other Diglett of the same gender that are willing to put up with him are kinda low. Plus, this isn't his colony, so I don't know how they'll take outside Diglett looking to merge."

"Huh," Heather replied, still somewhat confused on the whole thing. Apparently, Cody had been doing some research. "How does that work exactly?"

"It's a very strange system," he admitted. "Diglett on their own can be tough and have a strong connection with the earth, but compared to predators that hunt them, they're weak. Therefore, they hang out in groups, and in most cases, trios. Somewhere down the line of the species' evolution, individuals who hung out in trios began to have enhanced senses of exterior forces as well as each other's own thoughts. This somehow causes their bodies to release a hormone that causes them to grow bigger, stronger, smarter, and faster. They also seem to form an intense bond that leads them to eat, sleep, fight, and mate with others as one unit. But if one member of the Dugtrio is forcibly removed or is killed, the other two moles will die in a matter of days. It's like they form a platonic life bond with each other." Cody then looked back at the valley, and Heather could see his vision focusing. Perhaps he saw Mars? "The problem is, Diglett tend to make this bond with mature individuals who are like them mentally. Mars… is a bit too unique. I highly doubt that he will even find one other Diglett willing to bond with him. I think my best bet is to use the GTS to try to find similar individuals. However, since buying pokemon can be costly, trading seems more viable. I guess I have to catch something to trade... that's kind of a sad prospect, now that I think about it."

"You've thought a lot about this, haven't you?" Heather asked, knowing the answer already. Of course he has.

"Got a lot of time for it," he replied coolly. "Anyway, I'm sorry about getting mad about the medication thing. I know you're trying to help, and I appreciate it. I just… well… You can go back to sunning yourself if you want. I'm not going to be much fun right now."

"Alright. Get some sleep soon. You look like you really need it," Heather told him, giving him a quick pat on the back before getting up and heading back to the picnic area, not knowing what to think. In the end, Cody seemed to be talking more, which was good, but he still didn't seem all that well. Whatever he had seen the other night in his dream must have spooked him a lot.

Maybe this Darkrai thing is real, Heather thought to herself, but she immediately dismissed it. The idea of some dark being trying to harness control over one teenager to accomplish its goals… that sounded really stupid. Then again, ever since she started traveling with Cody, strange things had come and gone so quickly. Darkrai or not, I hope he's alright. Because really, I can't imagine what this adventure would be like without him.

"She cares a lot. Sometimes I wish it was a little bit less since she doesn't believe me," Cody said to both himself and Bastion. It is sort of lonely with nobody to talk to except my pokemon. Just then, he felt somebody nudging scratching at his left pocket. At first, he thought it was Bastion trying to get to the kibble he was holding, but when he looked over, he saw that the turtle pokemon was still asleep in its shell.

"Mars," he sighed, assuming that the mole had snuck back for a snack, "you're supposed to be mingling with the other Diglett." Not bothering to look, he tried to push the infiltrator away with his left hand, but what he felt was unusual. Mars was furry, but his hair was rather short and slick for optimal digging. This thing, whatever it was, has thicker, fluffier fur. He immediately looked down and gasped at what he saw. An Eevee had been clawing at his pocket. For a millisecond, he thought it was Sasha, trying to get food from him, but it only took a second to realize that this was not Heather's happy, bouncy Eevee. This Eevee… this Eevee was a completely different situation entirely. It had sad, tired eyes and as it tried to stand, it quivered freqently. Its fur was tangled and matted (and even gone on some parts of its body) and beneath the fur, several bloody gashes that had not healed properly were present. The pup seemed to be very thin too, as if it hadn't eaten in days.

What the hell? Cody was not sure what to make of what he saw. A rare pokemon had suddenly appeared before him, but instead of wanting to catch it, the young trainer wanted to know what had happened to it. The little pokemon had come to steal food from his pocket, but now that it had been caught, it started to back away slowly. Even when Cody stretched out his hand for the tiny canine, the Eevee got frightened and broke into a run that only lasted for a few seconds before collapsing in a heap.

"Guys? We got a situation here!" Not waiting for them to call back, Cody ran over to where the Eevee had crashed. He knelt down next to it and touched its fur that wasn't matted. Gently, he touched its stomach and turned it onto its back. Its underbelly was also matted and he could now see that the Eevee was female. What happened to you? Bastion had awoken and had joined Cody's side, curiously sniffing the injured pokemon. Cody give his partner a light push away. "Give me a bit of space," he asked gently. The Wartortle seemed to understand, sitting back a few feet.

"What's going- Oh my God…" Heather was caught between distraught and awe as she looked down at the helpless pup. By now, Jared had joined them. Upon seeing the Eevee, his eyes widened in horror as he got down to Cody's level.

"What the hell happened?" he asked in a panic. "Where did it come from?"

"I caught her trying to steal food from me," Cody explained, not taking his eyes off the little pup. "I tried to touch her but she got scared. Should we get her to a pokemon center?"

"I don't know, her injuries look really bad. I'm afraid that if we move her too far, we might hurt her even more. We could slowly carry her, but it might not give us enough time. I think we should take her over to the shade and spray her with a potion and give her a few berries. If we can stabilize her condition, maybe then we can safely carry her back to town."

"Or we could catch her in a pokeball and then carry her," Cody suggested rapidly. He was about to stand up and walk over to his pack to get a spare pokeball, but Jared stopped him with a firm grip to his shoulder.

"Cody…" he began to say, wearily, "I'm pretty sure she already belongs to somebody. Unless she's been out of her pokeball for at least a week, she'll still have the pokeball's 'claim' on her. We wouldn't be able to catch her."

"Okay, but how do you know she's already got a trainer?" he asked, touching the Eevee's fur tenderly. The fur that wasn't matted was still sort of soft, albeit unkempt.

"I'll explain later. For now, get her to the shade," Jared repeated his earlier thought.

The three teens picked a soft patch of grass in the shade to place the Eevee while they worked to heal her injuries, dividing the tasks between them. Cody had adamantly taken the role of applying the potion spray, bandages, and wrappings to the pup's open sores and gashes after cleaning them while Jared directed him and Heather thumbed through a copy of "Treating Pokemon: In the Wilderness", which contained a wealth of information on treating pokemon with basic injuries when pokemon centers were too far away. From time to time, she'd provide helpful bits to aid in the Eevee's recovery. Meanwhile, the other pokemon stood by, curious as to why their trainers were clustered around an unfamiliar pokemon. Jolteon and Sasha moved in closely to sniff the member of their species, but they were continually pushed back. Soon, the injured Eevee's condition was stabilizing and her breathing began to regulate once more. Jared was still anxious about carrying her to the center though.

"We need to let her wake up. When she can walk again, we'll take her there to get looked at," he said to Heather when she asked him when they'd take her there.

"Huh…" Cody a sighed as he stroked the unconscious Eevee's fur. She was a cute little pokemon, despite the ugly gashes on her body. He lightly touched her moist nose and then ran his finger up her long, pointy ears. "Jared, you said that this Eevee is probably owned by somebody. How can you tell?"

"There are a few telltale signs," he began, looking closely to inspect Cody's work, adjusting one of the bandages slightly. "First of all, wild Eevee, while they do exist, are pretty rare. There are only a few places in Skitrex in which you can catch an Eevee and this route isn't one of them. Second, her fur."

"What about it?" Heather asked, setting her book down. "She looks like a normal Eevee to me."

"She looks like a domesticated Eevee," Jared corrected. "Because of how uncommon they are in the wild, humans have been breeding Eevee in captivity for a long time and several traits have become commonplace among them, namely, their crest fur. Human bred Eevee almost always have white crest fur, save a few. Wild Eevee tend not to have white crest fur unless they have white fur altogether. This Eevee does have the white crest fur, so she's definitely not wild. But even without that, it's a pretty clear indication that she is owned from the fact that she came to steal food from you, Cody. A wild Eevee would wait until you were asleep. She's obviously used to humans. Finally, her injuries… They look human made."

"Human made… how can you tell? The gashes look like they could have come from anything," Cody commented, squinting some as he peered at the pokemon. Her injuries, while gruesome, didn't appear to have a specific origin to them.

"Cody, I've seen a lot," Jared lamented, his voice growing sad. "Before I left to challenge gyms, I did a lot of inner city battling and I've seen a lot of stuff. The bruises this pup has could come from anything, but the hair loss, the matting; those are typically signs of abuse. As for these gashes, a responsible trainer would have at least used a potion on them by now to at least heal them some. Plus, they look like whip marks, and not from something like a Vine Whip, due to lack of flora residue. Whoever trained this Eevee was definitely a whipper."

Cody felt his stomach churn some. He hadn't met any whip trainers, or whippers, as they were often called since starting his journey, but he knew that they existed. Back in the old days of training, before animal cruelty became taboo, many trainers used whips to spurn their pokemon by either hitting them or hitting near them. Over the years, as the act became viewed as cruel, the techniques of whipping began to die out. There were still a few trainers who incorporated whips into their style, but only for the cracking sound that whips made, which they would use to keep rhythm in battle or to use as non-verbal commands. But whipping pokemon like this… it was very frowned upon. He knew that many Team Rocket members used whips back in the group's heyday, but other than that…

"Some people are just sick…" Cody mumbled, petting the Eevee's head.

"Hey… um… no offense, but…" Heather began to stutter, trying to choose her words carefully. "I know that this is bad, but how is it that different from what you had to do with Antonia?"

If looks could kill, the look that Cody shot Heather the moment she asked that question could have caused mass extinction. Even if she couldn't see the difference or she was just playing devil's advocate, it still pissed him off.

"What are you insinuating?" he asked, his voice suddenly growing cold as he challenged his friend.

"Nothing, nothing, I just-"

"Allow me to explain the difference," Cody began, making an effort to neutralize his voice as he spoke. "I never hurt Antonia unprovoked. I only fought with her when she started fighting with me, and if I didn't, she could have injured me even more than just the scars and the broken arm she left me with. Even when I recalled her to her pokeball, she'd be ready to fight me the moment I let her out. When I did have to face her, I never hurt her like this. Nothing I ever did severely hurt her, and it was always in self-defense. Even when I did hurt her, I'd always nurse her injuries immediately afterwards. In the end, it's just a hallmark of her species, as Skarmory are brutal pokemon that value strength and brutality. There are even some records of Skarmory chicks that will kill their mothers in their sleep, simply out of desire to be dominant. The bottom line is, for the kind of pokemon that Antonia is, how I treated her wasn't abusive. However, this is a human bred Eevee, and human bred pokemon are loyal and typically loving towards their trainers. This Eevee likely did not behave in a way that would deserve this sort of beating from her trainer. Even if these wounds were made from another pokemon in a battle, the fact that they've been untreated like this… it's either cruel or irresponsible. Perhaps both."

"Yeah, I guess that makes some sense," she agreed, still sounding sort of unsure of what she had just heard. "So, what do we do with her when she wakes up? I mean, having somebody else's pokemon is typically considered illegal."

"Again, we take her to the center," Jared reiterated. "Then, we contact the authorities and fill out the paperwork that says that we found her alone and injured. If she's identified and a court finds that she has been abused, she'll be legally removed from her trainer's possession and put up for adoption. That's actually how I got my Croconaw back when he was a Totodile. Adopted him shortly after he was removed from a trainer back where I live."

Slowly, the Eevee opened her eyes for the first time in the last thirty minutes, but she didn't move much otherwise. She weakly licked Cody's finger before her eyes narrowed again in a daze. The young trainer put an oran berry next to her mouth, but she wouldn't eat. Sasha decided to take the opportunity to take the berry for herself, but Heather scooped her up in her arms before she was able to get to it.

"At least she's awake now," Heather commented, the reminder lightening the tension some. "I'm going to take Sasha over a ways so she doesn't keep bothering her. When she left, it was only Cody, Jared, the Eevee, and the rest of their pokemon in the shade, though most of them were wandering off, having grown bored of the new Eevee.

Where is Antonia? Cody thought to himself. She had gone off to hunt an hour ago, but she still hadn't returned. Bastion, Elesa, and Colossal were meandering around while Mars was still hanging out with the wild Diglett nearby. The only pokemon he had contained at the moment was Cortez, for while the candle pokemon could spend time in the sun, he much preferred the night. His thoughts quickly shifted back to the Eevee that lay in the grass. Despite only knowing this Eevee for a short time, he felt a duty to take care of her. For once, his goals were not about training or improving, but healing. Regardless of why he felt this way, the situation provided a good side effect of temporarily distracting him from the nightmares. It was sort of grim, he thought, that something this morbid was what gave him peace.

That peace was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of boisterous laughter that seemed to haunt Cody with familiarity. Some people were approaching the spot where the group was situated. He turned his head to see three older teenage boys approaching Heather, their eyes flashing dangerously at her, though they didn't seem to be looking over at Cody and Jared yet. Their clothes looked dirty and it looked like they hadn't cleaned up in a while.

"Company," Cody muttered, nudging Jared to turn around and look, though he said nothing yet. He too wanted to observe, but he held a pokeball in his hand, ready to spring to action. All the while, Cody couldn't shake the feeling that he recognized the guys he saw, namely the one with the shaggy brown hair. His voice was also scarily familiar, but he couldn't put it with a specific memory yet.

"Hey cutie, you see my Eevee around here. Looks a lot like the one you got there," he asked in an almost snakelike voice as he pointed at Sasha. "'Cept mine is a bit… more worse for wear." The guys laughed coldly again. By now, Somnos was by his trainer's side, his body leaning towards these strange boys with caution.

"Uh… no, me and my friends haven't seen any other Eevee around here," she answered, her voice quivering with discomfort. She was obviously lying to defend the pup that the trio had found, but these all too familiar strangers did not buy her charade.

"Baby, why you gotta lie to me like that?" he chuckled, though his face just reeked of foul intent. "Just tell me the truth, because my pokemon here, he don't like liars either." From behind the dirty teen stepped a thin, mangy Houndoom, growling at his new target.

Cody felt immense chills run through his body on the appearance of the Houndoom. He remembered now. He knew that Houndoom. He knew that trainer. They were the ones who tried to mug him back when he was just starting out as a trainer. If it weren't for Frank's interference, he could have been severely injured that day or even worse. He had forgotten about them completely, thinking that they would have probably been arrested or would have gone home by now, but somehow, they were right in front of him again.

"I know these guys," Cody whispered to Jared. "It took me a second, but I remember now. They attacked me when I first started out."

Jared didn't even bother to ask for details. "Do you think they'll go away if we confront them? Thugs don't usually target groups." By now, the three guys were backed up, each of them with a pokeball in hand. Somnos and Sasha were standing between Heather and the Houndoom now, and the Poliwhirl alone could probably beat the underfed dog to a pulp. Still, if these guys had more pokemon, she could potentially be outnumbered.

"Only one way to find out," he answered. With that, he stood up and began to walk over to the antagonizing trio. "Hey, back the hell up. She's with us!" Jared said nothing as he walked behind Cody, though he was still ready to strike. However, the guys just laughed at this declaration.

"Ha, what is this guy supposed to be? Your boyfriend? I could break this kid in half if I wanted…" The shaggy haired teenager started to trail off for a moment until he was also hit with an old memory. "Holy shit. Hey guys, check it out. Remember this kid?"

"Huh… he does look familiar, but we mug lots of kids," one of the other thugs commented, but the 'leader' of the three didn't seem to notice the comment as he kept going.

"No, seriously, this is that kid we almost jumped up near Kindle, remember? If it weren't for that freak with the mohawk, ol' Houndoom here woulda burned this sucker to a crisp." He was still laughing, seemingly amused by the thought.

Cody continued to keep a determined face, not letting himself get scared by this boy and his troop. Things were different now. He had six pokemon with him and he had two companions, each with pokemon of their own. Still, these guys seemed a bit rough and crazy, so he knew better than to let his guard down. However, there seemed to be less of them this time. The other members of this gang must have been separated at some point. The numbers game did give him some solace there.

"We heard you ask about an Eevee," Cody said, still serious in his voice and expression. "We have no Eevee here other than hers, so I suggest you keep walking. We're not looking for any trouble, and we all have badges."

"Hah, is that supposed to scare us?" the leader laughed again. "I have a badge. I could have more if I had more pokemon that weren't a complete waste of skin." Suddenly, the smile fell from his face. "Besides, if you don't have my Eevee, than what is that?" He pointed at Cody's ankles. Everybody looked down to see that the Eevee had gotten to her feet again and she was cowering next to Cody.

"You can't have her," Cody breathed in a low voice. "We saw what you did to her, the gashes and all. She was almost dead."

"Oh boo hoo," the shaggy haired boy mocked. "What a weeping heart. The little bitch is useless, so I'm 'whipping' her into shape." He laughed at his own pun that even made his companions groan. "You're a trainer. You know how these things work. Now come over here, you little bitch." Upon hearing this order, the Eevee began to obediently walk over towards her trainer as her loyalty seemed to control her actions. But with a sudden jerk of the teen's hand to snatch her up, she yipped and ran back to where Cody stood.

"Not happening," Cody growled. By now, Bastion, Elesa, and Colossal had moved to his side, all waiting for orders. He was about to order Elesa to stomp these guys before Jared spoke up.

"We are taking her to the pokemon center and alerting the authorities," Jared stated in a monotone voice. "If they find you not guilty on this one, you'll get your Eevee back. If you attack us, we have eighteen pokemon between us. The best case is that you-"

"Shut up!" the boy shouted while instantaneously releasing another two pokemon: a Seviper with scars littering its body and a Beedrill with a few gashes on its carapace. "I want that Eevee. Cost me a lot to get my hands on her, so I'm not gonna drop her to some punks like you. We will stop at nothing to-"

"Dude, it's just an Eevee," one of the other two thugs said, his voice shaking. "Let's just go. These guys look kinda tough." Though the interrupting boy made a logical point, he was back handed by the Houndoom trainer for his comment.

"What a fucking wuss," the leader hissed. "Nobody steals from me!" With a fluid motion, he pulled a long, sharp hunting knife from his belt. "And these pricks are gonna suffer for trying. Houndoom, Flamethrower!"

"Douse it!" Heather shouted out as if it were a reflex. Her Poliwhirl's water attack prevented anybody from being burned, but the moment her pokemon returned fire, everything erupted into chaos within seconds. Every trainer suddenly had three or so pokemon on the field, and they were all dueling with another, trying to get to the opposing trainers. Elesa began to stomp on the Houndoom while Pupitar thrashed at the Seviper. Meanwhile, Jared's Jolteon and Croconaw were working in tandem to subdue a Golbat and a Raticate, while his Charmeleon easily handled a poorly trained Grimer. On Heather's end, Somnos had one of the guys in a headlock while Smaug and Sasha, small as they were, were holding a Parasect and a Bibarel at bay. All in all, as the first minute passed, the battle was turning out to be a curb stomp, given that Cody, Heather, and Jared had better trained, better disciplined pokemon on their side. However, this was no standard pokemon battle at all, as the targets were the trainers themselves.

"Stay by me," Cody asked Bastion, wary of any threat that could get too close to him. "Jared, why don't you just use Onix? He could destroy these guys in a heart-"

"Are you crazy!? Croconaw, flank the rat!" Jared asked in a shout alongside his commands. "We don't want to kill them! Besides, Onix could accidentally kill us too! He's just too damn- Charmeleon, keep a few feet of distance. You don't want to get poisoned!"

"Noted," Cody replied, just barely dodging the Beedrill's Twin Needle attack. But when Bastion left his side to Aqua Jet the giant bee away, the Houndoom saw his opportunity. Slipping past Elesa, he lunged at Cody and knocked him onto his back. In those few seconds, a new fear washed through every one of the young trainer's nerves as he looked up into the face of the snarling, crazed pokemon. But before the Houndoom could bite, a guardian angel with steel wings saved Cody again. Just in the nick of time, Antonia had returned, slamming her entire frame into the Houndoom's. The momentum knocked the dog away by twenty feet, but he did not give in. Rather, he released a line of fire at the steel bird, who flew straight through it with disregard for her own safety.

"Antonia, don't let him hit you with the fire. Circle around and spiral inwar- Augh!" Somebody had slugged him in the left eye. Again, he was on the ground looking up, this time at the trainer who was putting forth so much effort to retrieve the Eevee that ran away from him. Cody could see that the guy's clothes were lightly singed, as was his hair, which was sticking up. Elesa or Jolteon must have given him a mild shock at some point in the skirmish. Yet the guy was still laughing like a lunatic, even though he was hurt and his team was losing badly.

"You got balls, kid, I'll give you that." He held his knife out, ready to strike. His eyes gleamed with sick looking sadism. "I'm gonna wear them as a necklace after I'm done with you."

Frantically, Cody looked around for some support. However, all of his pokemon were now engaged in the fight, not sensing their trainer's peril. Heather and Jared were too caught up as well. He tried to call out to them, but the brown haired boy stomped on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to cough up blood. But when it looked as if nobody would come to help him, he felt a tiny figure move onto his chest. The injured Eevee had sat down on his chest, defiantly looking up at her abuser.

"Get the hell off of him," the teenager hissed, but the Eevee wouldn't budge. "I am your trainer. You're supposed to listen to me! To be loyal to me! What kind of poor excuse for a dog are you anyway? Houndoom would never do this shit!"

The Eevee began to growl now, standing up and arching her back. Even though she was still injured, she looked like she still had some fight in her to at least stand up to this monster that had beaten her.

"You know what? Fuck it, I'm going to cut you in fucking hal-" But as the boy dove with knife in hand, the Eevee sprang into action, delivering a headbutt to her trainer's head. He let out a grunt of pain as he clutched his head, taking a few steps back, and this gave enough space for Cody to move. Instantly, he got to his feet, grabbed the teen's shoulders, pulled him forward, and drove his knee as hard as possible into his crotch. A dirty tactic, yes, but at a time like this, he didn't care about fighting fair. The blow was enough to bring the violent young man to the floor and he curled into a ball, moaning in pain.

Cody looked around at the mess that had been made. The other two attackers, as well as their pokemon, had been knocked unconscious, though none of them seemed to be severely hurt. Jared and Heather seemed to be alright too, along with their pokemon, although Jolteon was limping some. The Raticate must have bit him at some point. But then Cody looked down and saw the little Eevee at his feet, trying to stand back up again. He knelt to scoop her into his arms, careful not to hurt her anymore. While he knelt, he gave the returning Bastion a pat on the head, whispering out a thanks to him. As he stood up, Elesa gently nuzzled her trainer's chest while Colossal leaned against him slightly. However, the tender moment was broken the moment Antonia ran to her trainer's side.

"Skreeeeeeeeee!" she screamed as she approached, stopping in front of the shaggy haired trainer who had led the attack. Despite being covered in burns, she was still full of energy and ready to fight, or in this case, kill something. She was about to jab her sharp beak into the fallen trainer's head, but Cody rushed to her side to stop her, throwing his free arm around her neck.

"Shhhh, shhh, it's alright baby, everything is alright," he cooed into her ear. Slowly but surely, the Skarmory's temper seemed to cool down until there was a strange calmness in her normally fierce eyes. She leaned her neck over his shoulder and gave out low caws as if she was expressing her gratefulness that her trainer was okay. Looking up from this display, Cody caught Heather's eye and he smiled at her. "You wanted to know the difference between me and this asshole?" he asked, referring to the guy who he had just kneed in the balls. "This is it."

The next few hours were a whirlwind of events. The wild teens were brought in by the police for detainment, their pokemon were healed before being detained as well, and then Cody, Heather, and Jared were questioned individually. Because of how common trainer-on-trainer crime was, it was imperative that the authorities got the information they needed. Now, Heather and Jared stood in the hall, finishing up their conversation with the sheriff of the little town they were in.

"Everything checks out," the graying man told them. Despite being in his mid-fifties, the officer was well built and slightly intimidating, though his voice was kind. "These guys you fought with, they've been causing trouble all over. Wanted for various things like theft, arson, assault, the list goes on. Though we will be having hearings for all of these crimes, the ones regarding their pokemon abuse will be this Friday. I know that you trainers like to keep on the road, but can you be here to testify against them for what you have seen regarding their treatment of the Eevee as well as the others?"

"Absolutely," Jared answered immediately. Heather was somewhat surprised by her boyfriend's response, being that he wanted to keep a tight travel schedule. However, situations such as this one superseded his other priorities.

"Good," the man answered, though he looked a bit saddened. "These boys… I can't help but pity them a little. They're all orphaned with nobody to speak to them. By the looks of their records things, they've been on the road for a while. But they will still be punished appropriately. Odds are, they'll have their trainer's licenses suspended or taken away permanently, as well as their pokemon. We'll try to find homes for some of them, but others, like that Houndoom, may have to be put down. Way too aggressive and sick, that one. It actually tried to kill one of the doctors. It's not always easy, but things like that have to be done sometimes."

"Yeah… it's a shame," Jared mourned slightly, keeping his composure.

"Anyway, I have paperwork to fill out. You kids stay safe and if you can help it in the future, avoid playing hero. It's a nasty business."

When the officer left, the two of them returned to the inner halls of the pokemon center. They were given access to the back rooms, due to persistent questioning about the Eevee they saved, and this allowed them to visit the pup when she wasn't being operated on. They looked through the glass of the one room to see the little pup sleeping, its body covered in fresh bandages and attached to several tubes. Cody sat in a chair that he had pulled up next to the bed, but his head was resting on the bed as he slept. Meanwhile, his other hand lay gently on the Eevee's side. It was probably the most relaxed he had looked in days.

"You know, he may be crazy, but you're right, Heather. He does have a good heart at least," Jared said, his cheeks blushing somewhat at his admittance.

"I know I'm right," she teased, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "But why did the Eevee end up fighting with us? Aren't they extremely loyal to their trainers, even the bad ones?"

"Yes, but this one must have had a little bit of spirit left," Jared replied. "These guys were probably avoiding pokemon centers because the police can track people through them. Because of this avoidance, the Eevee would have to rely on them for care, creating a sort of learned helplessness if you will. They were probably getting really close to breaking her, but when she ran away out of desperation and then we helped her, she received that bit of tender kindness that she had been lacking. Maybe that's why she stayed with us? Because we were a better source? It's hard to say. I'm no psychologist."

"Fair enough," Heather responded softly. "The doctor said that they could fix her up. Do you think she'll be able to battle again?"

"I don't know," Jared answered sadly, leaning against the glass as he peered inward. "Sometimes, abused pokemon can't battle again once their physical wounds are healed up. It depends on the individual pokemon and the care that they receive. Maybe this one will come through. Maybe she won't. She might be better off just being somebody's pet in a comfortable setting where she won't get hurt again."

"I see. Maybe one of us should adopt her. You know, if that guy does lose custody," she suggested.

"He will, no doubt," Jared answered her, "and I already know who's going to be first in line." He looked in at Cody, who may as well have been dead at the moment, he was so asleep. "We have comfy beds tonight, but he fell asleep by her side. Besides, you already have an Eevee and I have a Jolteon. No need getting greedy, you know?"

"True, true," Heather replied. She looked back at Cody, still asleep. He hadn't even washed up yet, his hair was a wreck, and he had a huge black eye where he was punched. However, she could have sworn she saw him smiling slightly, even while asleep.

"I'm going to bed. You coming?" Jared asked.

"Yeah, I'll be with you in a minute, okay?"

"Sure," he answered. When Jared left through the hallway, Heather opened the door to the room where Cody and the Eevee were and slipped in. Once at bedside, she petted the Eevee's head before moving her hand to Cody's shoulder and then his hair. Earlier that day, he seemed completely paranoid about the Darkrai thing, but now, he was getting the rest that he desperately needed. She was glad that Jared was beginning to see things her way again; that Cody was a good guy, willing to do a simple thing such as sacrifice the comfort of a bed in order to see the Eevee's recovery through. Ever since finding the pup, he never left her side, even requesting that his questioning be done by her bedside. What he had done today warmed her heart and knowing how he cared for his other pokemon, she knew that he would love this Eevee too.

She knelt down by his side and whispered into his ear, "sweet dreams," before giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. He didn't respond, being in a deep slumber, but in Heather's opinion, that was probably for the best. Her cheeks reddened slightly after the kiss, but she couldn't help but smile. She had just created another secret, and while she knew that she would be a hypocrite for doing so, she would keep it for herself. For something so simple and harmless, what she had done felt dangerous and naughty, two feelings that made her skin tingle. It was just a little something that only she would know about… or so she thought.

Jared had led her to believe that he was leaving, but once he was out of her sight, he came back to spy on what she would do. Peeking in through the glass window into the small operating room, he saw Heather kiss Cody. Because it was just a kiss on the cheek, the action was platonic enough, but the way her cheeks flushed when she did it… he hadn't seen her blush like that in quite some time since he started dating her. Suddenly, he felt as though his suspicions were justified. Slowly, he turned around and walked down the hall again, and while he didn't show it, that twinge of jealousy inside his heart was doubling in size.